Running back Derrick McGowan racked up 164 yards on 30 carries and had two touchdowns to lead the Dexter Bulldawgs to a 30-8 win over the Cathedral Green Wave Friday at D’Evereaux Stadium.

&uot;We just got beat by a bigger and faster team,&uot; said Cathedral head coach Ken Beesley Sr. &uot;They were just too big and too strong for us. We just couldn’t do anything on offense.&uot;

Cathedral was held to only 96 yards of total offense by a swarming Dexter defense.

Running back Ja’Mel Jackson was held in check, gaining only 46 yards on 15 carries.

Dexter’s offense, on the strength of its version of the Notre Dame Box, finished with 288 total yards, 269 on the ground.

&uot;Our running game did real good tonight,&uot; said Dexter head coach Randy Sumrall. &uot;Cathedral has a young team, but we have a young team with a lot of sophomores. Cathedral runs a first-class program.

&uot;Our team is now pulling together like a team should after getting off to a slow start this season.&uot;

Dexter ended an impressive 11-play, 51-yard drive with a three-yard run by McGowan with 4:19 remaining in the first quarter. McGowan then ran in for the two-point conversion.

On fourth-and-one from its own 36 yard line, Cathedral fumbled the ball and Dexter’s Fred Haynes recovered to set up the Bulldawgs’ seven-play drive that ended with Omar Magee’s two-yard run. Haynes ran in for two for a 16-0 halftime lead.

Dexter (2-2) would not let up in the second half.

The Bulldawgs used up nearly 4 1/2 minutes of the clock to start the third quarter on a 9-play, 72-yard drive that culminated in McGowan’s second touchdown, a two-yard run with 7:42 remaining. Magee ran in for two for a 24-0 lead.

Cathedral scored its only points of the game in the fourth quarter.

After Conor Gibson blocked a punt, the Green Wave got an 8-play, 25-yard drive ending with quarterback Bart Lane’s 7-yard pass to Mark Steckler. Lane then threw to Clay Hammons for the two-point conversion to trim the lead to 24-8.

Lane was nine of 14 for 45 yards with the touchdown and one interception.

Cathedral then attempted an onside kick, but it was recovered by Dexter’s Greg Green.

Three plays later, Rodney Cotton ran in from 47 yards out for the final score of the game with 6:08 remaining.

Cathedral (0-3) plays at St. Aloysius Friday at 7:30 p.m.